WEDNESDAY

Somewhere in the distance, Hiei heard a school bell ring. The musical gong and the twitter of birds marked the early hour. He was as rooted to the spot as the rosebushes on either side of him, though unlike the roses, he was expected to knock on the door and go inside. The note Hiei found waiting for him that morning posed the most challenging task yet, one that would draw ridicule from Yusuke and Kuwabara for the rest of his sorry life if he turned it down.

"Hiei, I agreed to help my mother clean today, but I will be at work until late this evening. It's up to you to assist her. She'll tell you what you need to know! Kurama"

The paper was still with him, crinkled up in the pocket of his jeans. It served as a reminder of the trial ahead... an entire day in Shiori's company without anyone else supporting him. Typically, Hiei might ignore such an ordeal completely. Kurama's mother, however, was a special case. Her infectious enthusiasm and maternal doting caught him off guard every time he spoke to her, but the more Shiori coddled and complimented him, the more he found that he seemed to like the human woman who had given his mate life.

Such a realization was unsettling, to say the least.

Hiei eventually worked up the nerve to knock on the door, and listened to the sounds of Shiori's footsteps coming down the stairs. The residence looming before him could have swallowed up the modest, two bedroom home where Kurama lived when Hiei first met him. Hatanaka, his stepfather, was not shy about showing off his wealth. Hiei did not complain when he was reaping the benefits of Hatanaka's generosity, but today he would be stuck cleaning his monster of a house. He would be unable to make use of his speed or other abilities, either. Shiori would be with him every moment, doing her best to catch his ear and make conversation.

Shiori's smile, when she opened up the door, lit up the entire world. She beamed down at Hiei as if he were God's greatest masterpiece, sent down from Heaven to bring joy into her life. For a brief moment, he worried she might scoop him up into her arms and squeeze the living daylights out of him, but she stepped out of the way and invited him inside instead.

"It's so kind of you to come all the way here to help me out today," she gushed. "I told Shuuichi it wasn't necessary, but he insisted that you would be okay with it."

"Right..."

Hiei stepped out of his shoes and wandered inside. Based on her clothing, he assumed she was already elbow deep in cleaning. She wore a white apron over her dress and had a kerchief tied around her head. Long hair, pinned back at the base of her neck, hung down behind it. She stood alongside the genkan and gave Hiei a chance to glance around before she launched her verbal assault.

"I hope you've been taking good care of my son," she said. Hiei saw a bright twinkle in her eye that told him she was kidding.

"He's the last person who needs to be taken care of," Hiei answered honestly. If anything, Kurama usually took care of him... not that he needed it either.

"Oh no," she laughed. "You shouldn't say something like that to his mother, of all people. He's still my baby, after all."

Hiei knew there was no need to apologize, she was still poking fun at him. Regardless, he turned away and frowned. To the left of the large entryway, a pile of boxes was stacked outside the kitchen. The room was already partially torn apart, half the cabinets were empty. Shiori began inching towards the kitchen, then motioned towards the boxes as though he couldn't spot them on his own.

"I was working on the bedrooms when you arrived, but this is a project we started this morning," she said. "Everything needs to be taken out so the cabinets can be cleaned."

Hatanaka's kitchen had an inordinate number of cabinets, more than any family could ever need. Kurama's apartment was just one room, excluding the bathroom and toilet, and had only a few small cupboards in the kitchen area. Hiei couldn't fathom why three people would need so much space, when he and Kurama got by with so little. He assumed that, like much of what Kurama's step-father did, filling his house with plenty of superfluous junk was a symbol of status.

"I've been meaning to go through the kitchen for a while," Shiori said. She waved her hand in front of her face, hiding embarrassment. "We have a lot here that we don't need, so anything you find that seems unnecessary, you can put in one of the boxes and we'll take it to the second-hand store."

Hiei was the one with the Jagan eye, but it seemed like Shiori had read his mind.

"How should I know what you need, or don't need?" he asked.

"Just use your best judgment!" she said. "I'll be right upstairs."

Once she was out of sight, Hiei got right to work in the kitchen. He unloaded every last cabinet and laid the contents out on the counter. Soon, the entire room was crowded with dishes and utensils. Hiei scanned his arrangement and took a mental inventory of everything. The stash was immense. There on the counter, he saw cups, bowls, plates, spoons, sets of chopsticks, towels, pots, pans, ladles, spatulas, three cutting boards, two rice cookers, several appliances he couldn't identify, and much more.

The cardboard boxes Shiori left him filled up quickly. He was ready to limit the dishes and cups to three a piece, until he remembered humans tended to entertain guests often, so he held back a few extra sets of china just in case. When he came upon the wide array of knives, he paused to admire them. They were well forged and sharp as razors, heavy enough to remove a man's hand if wielded correctly. Hiei chose to save all of them.

Hiei was about to tackle the silverware, when a jolt of energy shot through his mind. Deep into his veins coursed a cry of pain, raw and trembling. He was stunned by how much the sensation evoked images of Kurama. He'd experienced the fox's agony more than once. Like roots, the suffering had wormed its way inside him when Kurama was injured in battle. In times like those, his psychic awareness, and their own unique bond, was both a blessing and a curse.

He was at the top of the stairs in an instant. It took only a second more to find Shiori, kneeling on the bathroom floor. She was clutching her lower back, and her eyes were shut tight. Though she was cured now, he knew the woman's illness had left her frail. A flicker of something dangerous welled inside his chest, an inkling that could have been called fear, had he been a lesser demon.

"What happened to you?" he said.

"Hiei," she winced. "Don't worry, I'll be all right."

Her smile was ever present, but it was weakened by her discomfort. She was also a poor liar, compared to her son.

"You're injured."

Shiori shook her head.

"Just a spasm in my back from getting down on the floor like this," she said. "Sometimes I forget I'm not quite so young anymore."

She insisted she was fine, shook her head, and waved him away. Hiei could see how the ache shot through her with every breath. If she trembled any harder, her bones might rattle. Beads of perspiration formed on her temples from the strain. Hiei always assumed Kurama's tendency to downplay his injuries was a habit left over from his Youko days. Clearly, there was much about the fox he had yet to learn.

He knelt down behind her on the smooth tiles. Kurama had assigned him the task of helping his mother clean. He would be woefully remiss if he left her sitting on the floor, tensed up and quivering in pain. Completing the goal laid out before him was Hiei's only motivation, when he braced Shiori by gripping her shoulder, and pressed his opposite hand against her lower back.

"Oh, Hiei... Your hands are so warm," she said.

He could have elevated his temperature much more. It would have been easier to ease the knotted muscle if he did, but he knew doing so would clue her in to his unusual nature. He relied mostly on his strength, and pressed on the tightened flesh until it eventually began to unwind. Once, he thought he heard Shiori sigh with relief. Otherwise, she said nothing.

"Try standing up now," Hiei said when he was through.

Shiori did as he instructed. She stood tall and stretched out her arms with ease, then snatched up her scrub brush again.

"I feel even better than I did before," she said. "Cleaning up will be a breeze now, thanks to you, Hiei."

Hiei backed away before she could become too overzealous in expressing her gratitude. He nodded slightly, then zipped back down the stairs. Echoing in the bathroom, he thought he heard a soft chortle, but he decided to ignore it.

It took almost two hours to finish cleaning the house. Their final task was to load up the boxes of unneeded items in the little trolley Shiori used to carry groceries. Hiei took care of the heavy lifting, then trudged along in pursuit when she insisted he come with her to the second-hand shop. They rode the train downtown. Hiei stared out the window and listened to the cloud of silence that hung between them and the hollow clanks of the rail wheels against the track.

Once they left the station, they wandered onto a narrow street that was packed with shops. It was the type of avenue only traveled by people who knew where they were going and what they wanted. Shiori dragged her cart behind her, always veering to the left, following the flow of traffic. Hiei was glad for the total absence of cars on the cramped road, but made sure to glare when a rude bike rider wove through the crowd and nearly clipped his arm.

He let Shiori take care of business inside the second-hand store. While he waited outside, he leaned against a lamp post and kept his head down. The footfalls and muted conversations of the humans passing by faded until they became white noise. In only three more days, Hiei would be shoved into a car with Kurama's entire family and carted off to meet his fate, not unlike the unwanted items he'd so recently piled into Shiori's trolley. If he wished hard enough, perhaps Hatanaka would fall prey to some unpleasant illness before Saturday, and the entire trip would be called off.

Hiei was wishing with every last fiber of his demon heart that Kurama's step-father would be hunched over a toilet by the time the sun set Friday night, when his attention was drawn across the street. He raised his head, glancing left and right for the source of the irregularity. It was only when a group of women stepped away from the sidewalk display that he realized the establishment opposite him was a jewelry store, one dealing in both new and used items. He navigated the throng of shoppers, holding his breath to avoid the stench of perfume, deodorant, and ordinary human sweat.

The elderly woman manning the shop approached him immediately when she spotted him eyeing her wares. Her face was as wrinkled and tan as a golden raisin, and she was even shorter than Hiei. She locked her hands behind her back, nodding with approval at the bauble that caught his interest.

"Very interesting, isn't it?" she asked.

"What do you call this stone?" Hiei said.

Lying on a dark velvet cushion with a dozen other pendants was a blue orb, wrapped in silver wire. The surface was the deep, cobalt blue of a moonlit night, scuffed in several places. The woman lifted the stone out of the case and placed it in Hiei's hands. When he held it up towards the sun, he could see galaxies swirling within, endlessly collapsing in on each other until they reached infinity somewhere in the very center of the sphere.

"It's a type of sapphire," she said. "As you can see, it's been well worn. I can offer it to you at half price."

"How much?" Hiei asked.

A chill shot up his spine when Shiori somehow materialized beside him and leaned over his shoulder. She cocked her head and examined the stone, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear when it fell forward.

"Doing some shopping?" she asked, then added, "For a special someone, maybe?"

Hiei clamped his hand around the gem and stared at the shop keeper, rather than respond to Shiori's insinuation.

"How much?" he said again, more forcefully this time.

"How about ¥5,000?" she suggested. "The jewel is quite large, after all."

Hiei was no haggler, not like Kurama, who could make a deal with the devil and walk away a winner. He had survived his fair share of markets in the demon world though, bartering for clothes and supplies when the need arose. Though he typically avoided dealing with human strangers as a personal rule, he was not shy of confrontation, no matter who his adversary might be.

"Three thousand," Hiei said. "The stone is chipped in two places, and the silver is tarnished."

"The wire can easily be polished," the woman responded. "What about four?"

Shiori butted in and held up her purse.

"I have some extra spending money on me now," she said to Hiei. She beamed down at the tiny old woman and added, "We'll take it."

Hiei walked away soon after with the gem in his pocket and Shiori tailing behind. She seemed unusually pleased, in spite of the harsh scowl that marred Hiei's expression.

"There was no need for you to interfere," he said. "I had the situation under control."

"I felt like offering you some encouragement," she said. "Especially since you're spoiling my son."

The red tinging Hiei's cheeks had nothing to do with her teasing. It was a sunny day, that was all.

"What is it about that pendant in particular that attracted you?" she asked.

"Just the kind of thing he likes..." Hiei mumbled.

His answer was far from the whole truth. Paying only ¥4,000 for the item he now carried was a steal, an outrage. Not even close to a sapphire, or any other semi-precious stone, the orb was, in actuality, a hoshi no tama, the spirit ball of a kitsune. Hiei could tell by the jewel's lifeless state that the fox who once held it was long dead. It lacked most of its original luster, and was devoid of the transfiguration magic for which kitsune were so famous. Only the faintest glimmer of spirit energy remained, a tiny, insignificant speck at its core. Though dull and inert, the hoshi no tama was no less beautiful. He hoped Kurama could appreciate it for its aesthetic value, if nothing else.

As they walked, Shiori pulled ahead until she was leading the way again. She guided Hiei up and down the next street over, and parked her grocery cart beside a public bike rack.

"Lunch time," she said. "Do you like curry?"

Hiei nodded. In front of them was a fast food style curry restaurant. It was the type of place humans went to obtain hot meals quickly and cheaply. They passed through the entrance, and he briefly perused the display of plastic food such establishments often exhibited to show off their dishes. He was certain nothing they had to offer was as satisfying as the curry Kurama made at home, but he had to admit that it looked, and smelled tasty.

It took only a few short minutes to receive their food, beef and vegetable curry for Hiei, and a chicken cutlet salad for Shiori. Hiei, who had yet to pass up the opportunity to consume something sweet, also got a peach smoothie. The odd pair sat by the window. Hiei hoped that, if he could start inhaling his food quickly enough, he could avoid the mealtime small talk of which human beings were so fond.

It didn't work.

"You know, even though you've known each other for a few years now, Shuuichi is always so elusive when I ask about you." Shiori took a sip of her water, barely holding back the grin that threatened to emerge. "But now that I have you cornered, I ask can you everything myself," she laughed.

Hiei cringed. Perhaps Kurama's mother was a demon after all.

"How have things been since you moved in together?" she asked. "Are you working yet?"

"Not yet."

Or ever...

"Come to think of it, Shuuichi has never even told me how the two of you met, or where you're from" Shiori continued. "Where were you born, Hiei? Around here?"

It was only a matter of time before she asked a question he couldn't possibly answer. Hiei hadn't expected the inquiry to become complicated so soon, however. Kurama lied to his mother all the time, it was a daily ritual for one living such a convoluted double life. Perhaps because Hiei had never developed the skill of lying to his own mother as a child, deceiving her himself felt terribly offensive, somehow.

"Someplace very cold," he said flatly.

"Hmm... how mysterious," she mused. "Somewhere in Nagano, maybe? No wonder you seem to dislike the city so much."

"What about you?" he blurted out, as he took another bite of his curry. It wasn't until he was swallowing that Hiei even registered his own curiosity.

"Me?" Shiori said. "I'm a life-long city girl. I grew up right here in Tokyo, in Saitama."

"Hn, you say that as though it's something to be proud of," Hiei said. "The city is stifling. It's a wall to wall ocean of people, always rushing. It's buildings that tower like immense trees, but without feeling or warmth. I wouldn't even be here-"

"If it weren't for Shuuichi?"

Shiori had an untouched piece of breaded chicken on her fork. It remained suspended over her plate, as she was clearly far too enthralled with Hiei's thunderstruck reaction to take another bite. Hiei folded his arms, slouched back in his chair, and allowed his own food to grow cold as well.

"Perhaps..."

"Now do I finally get to find out how the two of you met?"

"I jumped him," Hiei said thoughtlessly. He was treading the waters of truth far too close to shore. "On the street. While he walked home carrying his school bag like a dutiful little student."

For some reason, it exasperated him to see that Shiori was not nearly as riled by that statement as he expected her to be.

"And how on Earth did a street brawl lead you two fall in love?"

Fall in love? Who did this woman think he was? Some princess waiting in a tower, or a sap like Kuwabara who spouted words of love as though he was the God of Eros? Kurama was his partner, his mate, the one who watched his back and shared his bed. There had been no sappy courtship between them, no champagne filled evenings or hollow promises. Theirs was a bond that human lovers couldn't touch if they tried.

"Are most mothers this concerned with the intimate details of their children's lives, after they've grown and left the nest?" Hiei challenged.

"Absolutely," Shiori assured him. "Especially when their children are as handsome and charming as mine."

"Your charming son is capable of much more than you realize," Hiei said. His voice dripped with acid now. His aggravation and the fact that Shiori was proving to be just as coy and unflappable as her son was getting the best of him. "I wonder if you'd still think so highly of him if you knew the kinds of things he's done."

Shiori still smiled, but something in her countenance changed, and became humble. She lifted her glass again and tilted it, watching the ice shift in position.

"I know that better than anyone, Hiei."

"I doubt it," he said.

Even when she bowed her head, that shrewd, somber smile persisted. It was the sort of smirk Kurama wore when he thought back on ancient conundrums, times long past, puzzles no one else could possibly comprehend.

"You're speaking to the person who raised him," she said kindly. "I brought him into this world, nursed him, taught him. You'd never know based on the man he's become, but my Shuuichi was a monster as a child. He spoke down to me and spurned me. He said things no son should say to his mother. Even when my husband died, he didn't change. But I knew in my heart, that somewhere deep down inside him was a good boy."

Kurama was many things. He was covetous, manipulative, and sly. At times, he could be kind, and to those who had earned the honor, he was fiercely loyal. Brilliant, wise, fearless... but never good. Yukina was good. Kuwabara, despite all his other failings, was good. Goodness implied innocence, and Kurama was as far from innocent as anyone could be. However false or clouded her perception of her son might be, though, Hiei realized in that moment that Shiori knew much more of her son's true nature than he imagined.

"You never told me how picking a fight led you and Shuuichi to end up together," Shiori said.

Hiei shook his head with defeat and dug back into his lukewarm curry.

"He beat me."

Clouds rolled in while Hiei and Shiori finished their lunch. The sky became a grey, churning ocean and the temperate dropped. On the way back to the train station, Hiei pulled the grocery trolley, and even held onto it as the train car rumbled back towards Shiori's neighborhood.

The walk from the station was a bit more rushed than the walk there had been that morning. Hiei could have completed the journey an instant, but had to wait for Shiori, who was about as fast as one might expect a forty-five year old woman to be. Their goal was clear: beat the rain that was destined to pour at any moment. When the first drops trickled down, they broke into a jog. Spatters of water against the sidewalk splashed up and soaked their shoes. Before long, the heavens split open and a deluge fell that would have made even Noah quiver with apprehension. Hiei and Shiori found themselves stranded in a enclosed, glass bus stop, still blocks from home. Even as they waited, they knew doing so was pointless, the damage had been done.

Hiei was aware that, compared to humans, his hair was unique. Its texture was far more like the fine, bushy fur of Kuwabara's cat than the thick strands that grew from Kurama's head. Not that Hiei had ever willingly pet Kuwabara's cat, of course. Unfortunately, the similarity meant that his hair behaved much the same as a cat's when wet. Normally, he could use his own body heat to dry off, but as that wasn't an option with Shiori around, Hiei was left looking less like himself and more like some scrawny, half drowned creature who'd recently had a bad run in with a tidal wave.

His first clue that something was off was when he glanced up and saw Shiori's mouth twitching. Then, her stomach began to shake. Soon, she was clamping a hand over her mouth and looking anywhere but at him.

"Is something wrong with you?"

"Oh, it's nothing," she said, obviously giggling now.

"That's the most hysterical nothing I've ever heard," he grumbled.

"I'm sorry Hiei," she said. "I shouldn't tease you. You've done so much to help me today. It's just..."

Her shoulders quaked as she contained her laughter, and she stared down at the sidewalk, shaking her head.

"Well, spit it out!" he demanded.

"Your hair," she said. Then, Shiori dug into her purse and pulled out a round, pink compact. Unlike the item Yusuke carried around, this case held no communication device to Spirit World, only a disc of powdered makeup and an ordinary mirror. She held the mirror up in front of him, and he saw an absurd looking apparition staring back, drenched from head to toe. His hair stuck out in chaotic clumps, half of it clinging to his cheeks and neck.

Hiei frowned.

"This hair is still more tame than Shuuichi's," he said.

Shiori stared at him incredulously for a moment, before she said, "You know... you're right," and began to tremble again. She abandoned all hopes of hiding her reaction, throwing her head back to roar with laughter that drowned out the pound of the rain.

Hiei felt his own mouth falter, and soon found that he was grinning in spite of Shiori's laughter... or perhaps because of it.

That night, he sat on the futon and watched Kurama marvel at the hoshi no tama from the jewelry store. He turned it over in his hands endlessly and caressed the glassy surface. Light that peeked in through the long, vertical blinds glinted off the stone and reflected in Kurama's eyes. Eventually he sat up and held the gem near the center of his chest.

"How do you think it would look as a necklace?" he asked. "I could get a chain on my way home tomorrow."

He was already dressed for bed, wearing a loose t-shirt and grey lounge pants, but still managed to look stunning with the hoshi no tama sparkling against him.

"If you like," Hiei answered nonchalantly.

"Though it's a bit damaged, I'm amazed you were able to find something like this in an ordinary shop," Kurama said. "There are demon hunters who would kill to possess a genuine hoshi no tama, even in an inanimate state."

"I've heard that anyone able to steal one gets a wish," Hiei said. "I wonder what the human who managed to get a hold of this one wished for?"

Kurama clutched the ball in his palm and chuckled.

"Contrary to the legend, it's not mandatory to grant the wish," he said. "Think of it as a tradition, more than a necessity."

"What happened to yours, anyway?" Hiei asked, referring to the star ball Kurama himself must have possessed during his life as a kitsune.

With his free hand, Kurama pointed to his heart.

"When I became powerful enough to start living as a demon full time, I was able to absorb the gem completely," he explained. "Its magic became a part of my youki."

"Of course someone like you would never let one of his treasures drift too far away," Hiei scoffed.

"That's right."

Kurama reclined on the futon and pulled Hiei down with him, until they were lying face to face on the pillows.

"Once something is mine, I'll never let it go," he said.

"Hn, even that human family of yours," Hiei said, with a light groan.

"How was your day with my mother anyway?" Kurama asked. "Besides describing your face-off with the jeweler, you've barely said anything about it."

Hiei had no idea what Shiori was to him, and had no experiences of his own as a basis of comparison. Life with a parent was totally alien. The only female in his life of any importance, besides Yukina, was Mukuro, and Shiori was nothing like either of them. When he was with her, though, he found he drifted towards the same place of comfort that he felt when he spent time with the former two women. She did not make his skin crawl, the way other humans did. Her smile was contagious, as was her laugh, which he so recently discovered. Like the hoshi no tama, Shiori was a rare jewel among junk. A treasure worthy of a kitsune.

What it felt like to have a mother, Hiei would never know. But, if having one was anything like the day he spent with Shiori... then he was missing out.

He shrugged, and to Kurama he said,

"It was tolerable."

Kurama placed the hoshi no tama in a safe location, shut off all the lights, locked the front door, and then settled back into bed. Hiei was still lying against the pillows where Kurama left him, and was staring off towards the wall.

"By the way, what's today's annoying lesson?" he asked.

Kurama shifted until he became comfortable, pulling the blankets up around himself. Once he was completely relaxed, he gazed back at the demon resting beside him.

"No lesson today," Kurama said. "I think you learned something all on your own."